A Beautiful Mess

It's time for a new challenge at Our Creative Corner. For this month, our challenge is as follows:

How about getting messy?? Can you do it with me???

Can you be free and filthy? Are you brave???

I believe YOU can do it... you can create... 

A Beautiful Mess

Whether you make a messy looking project or just use 'messy' techniques...

we want to see every inch of your 'Beautiful Mess'!

Now that is a fab challenge don't you agree?!! I couldn't wait to get started on this one and here's what I've made:

A piece of wall art which has been made in a very distressed style, using very messy techniques!

I started with a laser printed image found on the internet. It's printed in black and white. The image has been glued onto a piece of strong grey board.  Before altering the image, a layer of matte medium is applied to seal the surface. This prevents damage and paint tainting the image.

A resist product was applied to the areas where the background needed to show through. The whole image was then covered in fluid acrylic paint (DecoArt).

Once the paint is dry, the areas over the resist product are removed with a baby wipe. The swirl design in the centre at the bottom edge was stamped and embossed with clear powder prior to the application of the paint. 

More resist product is applied over the areas to keep.

Another layer of paint is applied over the resist product.

Getting nice and messy removing the resist product!

Mess in progress as the paint and resist product is removed!

The white writing is stencilled on using chalky paint (DecoArt). Quinacridone gold and translucent yellow iron oxide paints are applied to age the writing.

Detail image to show the embossed swirl stamped with versamark. Love how the paints change the colour of the clear embossing if they are not fully removed.

Gold paint is used to randomly stamp the swirl around the edges. The image clearly shows the layers of paint.

Hope you like my messy, distressed piece of art! Yes, I loved getting messy for this challenge! The rest of the design team have produced some amazing creations for your inspiration so please click HERE to see what they've been up to.

Our generous sponsors this month are:

LOST COAST DESIGNS and CARMEN'S VERANDA

The winner this month will receive a $20 voucher from our generous sponsor!

Your turn now - can't wait to see what you come up with. Just have lots of messy fun!!

Sew Special. . . . .

Today sees the start of a new challenge at A Vintage Journey. Our host this month is the wonderful Jenny and here's what she has to say:

'Add fabric to your entry in some way be it felt, burlap, ribbon or cloth and if you're really feeling brave maybe include a touch of real or faux stitching! We are looking forward to seeing what ideas you have to incorporate this sew special theme in your vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journalling; industrial or steampunk projects'.

Recently, I was given a small roll of untreated painting canvas and decided that this was the perfect time to cut into it! I love to sew and use fabric and wanted to combine this with paint, stamping with found objects, old book paper etc. in order to make something useful. Here's what I made:

I've made a gift card and wallet which is designed to hold a voucher, plastic gift card, cash etc.

The card will slide into the wallet so the gift is not immediately seen.

The back of the gift holder has a white card layer to enable a personal greeting or message to be written.

The back view when the gift holder is inside the wallet.

The wallet and gift holder are die cut from canvas. The canvas is painted using DecoArt media fluid acrylics and some tinting base to calm the colour. Metallic gold is stencilled onto the background followed by some stamped rings using a bottle lid. The green is applied using a piece of old credit card. The white dots are made using a white paint pen. The red dots are made using an acrylic paint pen. Machine stitching is added on the stencilled design using a multi coloured thread.

I drew and cut out a leaf template then copied this onto old book paper to make the number of leaves required. To add strength, the book paper shapes are glued onto card shapes. The leaf shapes are coloured using a mixture of fluid acrylic colours on some and Inktense pencils on others. Leaf 'veins' are stitched onto the shapes. Dots are stamped onto the leaves using metallic gold paint followed by some white pen dots.

On the gift card holder, leaf shapes are stitched around the outside of the book paper leaves to add another dimension. Small gold dots shown here are stencilled and embellished with a white pen.

To make the gift secure, a little open pocket is made from canvas. The canvas has been coloured with the same DecoArt paint as before. A scalloped shaped design is stamped onto the painted canvas with black Stazon. The shape is cut out and some stitching added to the bottom edge after which, the pocket is secured in place. More dots and rings are added as before.

The pocket extends to the back of the card and some more embellishing is done. An extra gift or private note could be added to this pocket.

Detail shot of the leaf tops.

The backs of the leaves on the wallet have been grungily painted to avoid white areas when placed down on a surface.

Detail image.

Jute string is added to the wallet as a finishing touch.

A home-made clay 'button' shape is made using Fimo clay. Once baked, the button is painted with the metallic gold paint used previously followed by a gentle swipe of metallic lustre in a green shade. The button anchors down the jute string.

Our wonderful sponsor this month is:

Calico Craft Parts make the most amazing items to produce and embellish your work. One lucky random winner will receive a wonderful prize from our sponsor. As usual there will be three pin worthies, selected by the Creative Guides. These lucky people will in turn be invited to return as Guest Creative Guides for a future challenge.

Before you go, don't forget to visit the challenge blog here and see the wonderful inspiration on offer the rest of the Creative Guides - you won't be disappointed!

Thanks for joining me today. xx

Hit The Books. . . . . . .

Morning everyone. Today sees the start of a new challenge at Our Creative Corner. Our host this month is the hugely creative Jennie and here's what she has to say:

'Hi! Jennie here with you this month hosting my first challenge for Our Creative Corner. 

I adore old book paper and old books and I am always glad to be able to breath new life into a dilapidated book which most people would consider throwing out!

For your projects this month we would like to see you searching through your stash for old book paper or books and create a project with what you find. You might want to use papers within your project or you might want to breath new life into an old book by altering it in some way. I hope I have chosen a challenge theme with huge scope for projects small or large.

Whatever you make let us see you give those old book papers or books centre stage!'

This is a wonderful challenge from Jennie and I could have gone in several directions. For my project I finally decided to make a card using pieces of old book paper:

I'm not really a card maker but I needed one for a friend and couldn't find what I was looking for. Help! Nothing for it but to sit down and produce the sort of card I'd hoped to find!

The butterfly is stamped onto old book paper and coloured with Inktense pencils which I used dry. The image is fussy cut and inked around the edges.

A background is built up on kraft card using gesso and stamps. . . . 

. . .randomly torn strips of old paper from a book

. . .text from old book paper removed with sticky tape and applied to the background to mimic washi tape

. . .circles stamped with rubber and bottle tops, stencilled circles and finally some machine stitching in toning colours

. . .lots of tiny dots made with a white pen. There's even some stamped gesso stars if you look carefully!

A sentiment is made using some brown coloured dymo tape and machine. White pen has been used to highlight the tape.

The edges of the kraft card layer are inked for definition and outlined with machine stitching in a toning shade of brown. The white vertical lines are added with some gesso and a credit card. The larger brown dots are made with an acrylic paint pen.

A pen top and some gold acrylic paint adds a touch of bling around some of the stencilled dots. There's even some journalling in there made with a white pen. A wash of acrylic paint (DecoArt fluid acrylics) has been used to add further age to the piece.

A second background layer has been made from old book paper stuck onto card for strength. Gesso comes first to seal the paper. Followed by stamping text with white acrylic paint. Next stage is to add 'stamping' with bottle lids and gesso to make rings and a little bubble wrap stamping in there too to add depth. The final stage is to roughly dry brush with gold fluid acrylic to highlight the texture and dirty up the book paper.

Just love the colour those pencils achieve even when used dry!

I hope you like my latest offering here today! There is lots more inspiration over at Our Creative Corner from the uber talented ladies.

Our wonderful sponsors this month are:

Crafty Individuals

The winner this month will receive a huge bundle of goodies from our generous sponsor!

Thank you so much for joining me and I look forward to your wonderful creations throughout the month.

Spring Is In The Air for A Vintage Journey

Hi everyone. It's time for a new challenge at A Vintage Journey. This month, the lovely Sandy is our host and here's what she has to say:

Leave those winter blues behind. Make anything which says SPRING using pastel colours. It is your choice: a card, canvas, 3D, a card or a tag etc. Please remember it should be in one or more of the following styles we favour: shabby,vintage, mixed media, art journalling, industrial or steampunk.

I always associate little lambs, chicks, bunnies and gorgeous flowers (which brighten our gardens and hedgerows after the winter) with Spring. I decided to make an ATB for my project. (Thanks to the lovely Anne Redfern who sent me some ATB's as die cuts many moons ago!).

Here's my Spring inspired ATB:

A super sweet vintage scene with the little girl, lambs, bunnies (playing trumpets!) and some gorgeous spring inspired blooms.

I made a rusty fence from two die cut pieces of grunge paper.

The little girl image is printed from Pinterest then stuck onto card. She's fussy cut, sealed with matte medium then given a coat of crackle glaze to age her. The edges are inked and some raw umber acrylic paint has highlighted some of the cracked areas.

Her hat was a little bare so I added a small crackled flower with a gem to pretty it up.

The bunnies were found on Pinterest too. To give a good group of them, I printed out two bunnies as they came but flipped the image to get two facing in the opposite direction. They then received the same treatment as the little girl.

Die cut leafy stems were stuck onto the shape after constructing. A layer of gesso was applied. Four faces of the ATB were layered with DecoArt fluid acrylic green gold paint. Next came dry brushing in two colours to tone the green down a little. This was followed by some stencilling with DecoArt chalky paint in a toning green shade. The flower stems are dry brushed with gold metallic fluid acrylic then everything is give a coat of crackle glaze. The gorgeous lamb image was made in the same way as described before and also came from Pinterest.

The stencilling which gives a lovely vintage look to the sides and echoes those wonderful Spring green shades.

Little die cut leafy stems for the flower blooms to sit on.

Four feet are made out of silver beads which are given some colour using a DecoArt Metallic Lustre cream. The edges of the block are finished by applying some jute string to unify the look of the edges.

The tiny blooms are punched from scraps of gelli plate prints. They are given a layer of crackle. some inked edges and a little raw umber fluid acrylic highlights the crackle. Each flower is then shaped with the end of a paint brush, glued together and finished with a toning stick on gem.

The top of the block is painted as before but without stencilling. To complete the look I've added some real moss collected whilst walking my dog and a range of blooms all made as before. Love how the little girl's feet look as if she's stood in the grass amongst the flowers.

So there you have it - an almost cute little project from me but still with enough grunge to hopefully give it some street cred!!

You really must pop over to A Vintage Journey and see the beautiful projects made by my teamies - you will absolutely love them! 

Our generous sponsor this month is Country View Crafts who have kindly donated a £20 voucher for the winner of this challenge. you need to be in it to win it remember!! You could also be one of our Pin Worthy mentions so it really is worth linking up and having a play with us.

Thanks so much for popping by. If you are interested in any of the techniques and/or products I used for this project please just drop me an email and I'll do my best to answer you as soon as possible.

This is one of two posts I'm sharing today. If you'd like to see the other post, please click here.